It is well known to provide a motor vehicle with two or more rows of seats for use by occupants of the motor vehicle. Particularly in the case of small commercial vehicles having passenger seating such as minibuses and for multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) there is an increasing need to offer a high level of seating flexibility such as fore-aft movement of the seating and removal of one or more rows of seating. However, such seats are often heavy (circa 30 kg) due to the need to provide in many cases integral three point safety restraint anchorage points and the consequential need for substantial floor mounting structures sometimes referred to as a “seat leg” or a “seat pedestal.”
The removal of such known seats for the purpose of loading long items is therefore difficult to achieve within the confines of a motor vehicle and so there is a need to provide a seat that is of lighter weight and so is easier to handle. In addition, to the foregoing there is an increased need to provide an item of utility for use by occupants of the motor vehicle such as for example, a table, an entertainment center, a storage bin, a storage locker and a need for increased in-vehicle storage particularly of long items. It would be desirable to provide a motor vehicle satisfying the aforementioned needs in a cost-effective manner.